


Ah Wilderness!

by 2012bookworm



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Camping, Gen, Minor Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmermann, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 11:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11230125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2012bookworm/pseuds/2012bookworm
Summary: Shitty plans a camping trip to celebrate graduation.  Will plans for the disaster that's sure to occur.





	Ah Wilderness!

Will still isn’t sure why Shitty thought it would be a great idea to go camping to celebrate graduation. He’d just said some things about Lardo, and inspiration, and opportunities for art, and all that fresh air, and Holster, in his overenthusiastic way, had instantly been all in, which meant Ransom was in by the powers of their weird bro-bond, and then it took Shitty approximately three days to convince Lardo, which was actually longer than Will thought she’d hold out. The idea should have gotten scrapped as soon as Lardo displayed any sort of reluctance, since this trip was supposed to be for her graduation, but Shitty’s sometimes an idiot. Thankfully for Shitty, Lardo’s an idiot over him, and maybe all the idiocy will work itself out in a non-painful, non-dramatic way for once. Will’s not holding out much hope on that score.

He knows, just knows that Bitty invited him on this trip just so there would be someone else around who was sane, and as a bonus, knew anything about the outdoors. He thought about declining – he’s friendly with the seniors and recent graduates, but not really part of their group – but Bitty had asked, all earnest and pleading, and Will had said yes before he really thought.

Then Nursey mentions that he’s never been camping, and thinks it sounds ‘chill’, of course, so he gets invited along, (which makes sense – he and Shitty are bros, and he and Lardo are semi-secretly art nerd bros), and Chowder also gets an invite as the only remaining Frog, (but declines, because he’s smart, despite Will’s begging him to accept), and the Falconers make it to the playoffs but get knocked out early in the second round, so Bitty invites Jack to tag along, and by graduation the camping group is made up of Shitty, Lardo, Ransom, Holster, Bitty, Jack, Nursey, and a reluctant Will.

But everyone, even Lardo at this point, seems excited, and Bitty’s been looking up camp cooking, and no matter what he gets to tease Nursey about his weird city-boy ways, so maybe it won’t be quite as bad as he’s imagining.

And then he texts Shitty to see if he wants Will’s parents to mail down their tent, and Shitty replies that he didn’t think they needed tents, and Will runs over to the Haus to panic at Bitty, who pats his head and gives him pie. This is less reassuring than usual.

“Bitty,” He moans into the table, “Shitty thinks it’s going to be like that movie about the boys who find a dead body. With sleeping on piles of leaves and telling ghost stories around the fire and bonding over leeches.”

“Pretty sure there aren’t any leeches in Massachusetts, honey.” Bitty points out absentmindedly, looking over notes for his next final. 

“That’s not the point. The point is that Shitty doesn’t think we need tents. Or sleeping bags. Or anything else.”

“It’ll be fine.” Bitty says, nudging the plate against his elbow. “Eat your pie.”

Will picks up his fork and takes a bite of pie. “Do you even know where we’re going?”

Bitty looks up at that. “Huh. No.” Will raises his eyebrows. Bitty winces. “Maybe Lardo does?”

Lardo does not. She shrugs it off with ‘Shitty said it was nice’. Will starts preparing for the worst. He calls his parents and tells them to mail the tent. He waterproofs a box of matches and convinces everyone at the Haus to collect their dryer lint. Bitty, concerned but still less concerned than Will thinks he should be, finally convinces Shitty to tell them how long they will be camping, since the first three times Will had asked he’d gotten some variation of ‘as long as it feels right, brah’. Thankfully, Ransom has to be back by Monday night, which limits the trip to a weekend.

Friday morning, Nursey finds him heaving two cases of bottled water into the back of his truck and proceeds to spend the next ten minutes sitting on his tailgate chirping Will as he checks that all the supplies are properly stowed and nothing’s been left behind.

“So camping, huh?” Nursey asks, legs swinging. “It’ll be ’swawesome.”

“It’s going to be a disaster.” Will replies flatly, motioning Nursey off so he can close the tailgate.

Nursey slithers down, unfairly graceful for someone whose head is so often in the clouds that he trips on sidewalk cracks. “Chill, Poindexter. We’re sending off the seniors! How bad could it be?”

“Nurse,” Will crosses his arms and glares. “Of the two of us, who has actually been camping?” 

“Seriously Dex,” Nursey puts a hand on his shoulder. “Chill.”

Will thinks very hard about punching him, but decides it’s not worth having to unearth the first aid kit. He shrugs off Nursey’s hand instead. “Fuck off. You riding with me over to the Haus, or what?”

Nursey smiles, brighter and happier than normal, and Will’s annoyance clenches into something tighter in his chest. Nursey walks around and climbs into the passenger seat. He leans out to look at Will. “Come on! Let’s go explore the great outdoors!”

Will groans.

***

After the requisite mad rush to get everyone and everything in a car, during which Lardo had perched on the hood of Shitty’s tiny Prius and hardcore judged all of them, they drive nearly three hours north to a New Hampshire state park. Nursey calls shotgun on Will’s truck, and they spend most of the drive arguing about music. The things Nursey likes are weird and confusing. Nursey calls the stuff Will likes “old-fashioned” and “too loud”. At least half an hour is spent chirping him for the second statement, since Will was unaware Nursey was actually a crotchety old man. Nursey only huffs and informs Will that he’s the crotchety old man, which, well, sometimes true, but at least he’s not complaining about the music being too loud. When the finally reach the park, Will relaxes. It’s a nice-looking state park, he can see the signs for a campground, and he’s pretty sure one low building he sees contains showers. Maybe he’s been giving Shitty too little credit.

This good mood lasts until Shitty announces that they’re camping in the real wilderness.

“At… the campgrounds?” Will asks in a vain attempt to redirect the group.

“No man! Somewhere along the trail!” Shitty yanks a tattered knapsack out of his trunk. Will is glad to see that he at least brought some sort of supplies.

“Is that allowed in this park?” Will tries, flipping through the map he picked up on their way in.

“Appalachian Trail! That’s what it’s for, dude.” Shitty grins, wide and excited and not going to be swayed.

Will turns to Bitty, who just looks amused. Even Jack seems on board, and Will gives up on convincing everyone to stay at the campgrounds. At least they’ll only be a half-day’s hike away from the cars if something goes wrong or when they need to resupply. He sighs and opens up his truck. “All of you are carrying at least three bottles of water, and I’ll divide the food up as much as I can, but someone’s going to have to deal with the cooler.”

Holster cheers. Bitty comes over to help him unpack. Will’s just glad he keeps an extra bag and some rope behind the truck seats. 

***

Holster and Ransom trade off carrying the cooler as Shitty leads them along the trail. There aren’t many hikers out this early in the season, but the few they pass give them odd looks. It makes sense. It’s not like they’re small or particularly quiet, and Shitty’s rants on “the fucking magnificence of the natural” as well as Holster and Ransom’s excited exclamations don’t help. Nor does the weird mishmash of equipment Will’s done his best to secure to various backpacks. At one point, there were even two pots clanging together, like this was a comedy about prospectors, for fuck’s sake. Shitty’s rants are mostly directed at Lardo, who is either actually paying attention or just really good at nodding at appropriate moments. Bitty is chatting quietly with Jack, the two holding hands, which is fucking adorable, and Ransom and Holster are Ransom and Holster, which means Will is walking with Nursey.

“Dude, have you noticed that we’re like, the only non-couple?” Nursey points out about a mile in. “How did that happen?”

“Ransom and Holster aren’t a couple.” Will points out, scanning the ground for any roots or rocks. Nursey keeps tripping.

“Are you sure?” Nursey asks, glancing significantly over his shoulder. 

Will looks back to see Ransom collapsed against his Holster’s side, giggling. “Actually, no.”

Nursey nods and trips over another tree root . Will grabs his arm to keep him upright. “Thanks. Even if they aren’t a real couple, they’re some kind of bro couple, which still means we’re the odd ones out.”

“You saying we aren’t a bro couple, Nurse?” Will deadpans, hand hovering over Nursey’s bicep, ready for the next catch.

Nursey mock shudders. “Not like that we aren’t. Can you imagine?” 

Will abruptly loses his desire to chirp. He has imagined. While he doesn’t want what Ransom and Holster have, not really (too many loud emotional moments, way too much singing), he does want the closeness, and he kind of wants it with Nursey in particular. Which is something he is not thinking about.

Even when Nursey looks at him with a smile and says, “I’m too lactose-intolerant for best friend sundaes.”

That statement should not be sexy. Should not.

***

The tent was proving difficult. It had been a while since Will had set one up, and on top of only half-remembering how to do Nursey was the only one who offered to help.

“No, no, if you bend it like that it’s gonna – “ Dex starts as Nursey tries to force the too-long tent pole into its sleeve. It slips out and hits him. “- smack you in the face.”

They’ve already gotten the poles mixed up, stuck the shorter one in the longer sleeve, had to pull it out, pinched fingers putting the correct one together, and dropped everything at least twice. Plus, Will keeps tripping over the bag of tent pegs.

“See, told you a tent was more trouble than it’s worth.” Shitty calls from across their makeshift campsite where he’s clearing ground for a fire.

Will grits his teeth and does not swear. It’s getting dark, and he still needs to actually build and light the fire, since he doesn’t trust Shitty with their limited supply of matches. The way things’ve been going he’d assume that a stack of dry logs would just spontaneously catch. Thankfully, Bitty, Jack, and Lardo get back from collecting firewood before Will starts screaming, and with Bitty’s help they finally assemble the stupid tent. It’s large, family-sized, which is good because in spite of Shitty’s insistence they can just sleep under the stars, he knows everyone will be piling in before the night’s over. 

Ransom and Holster crash back into the camp just as he gets the kindling to catch, and he manages to keep the little flame from going out despite Holster shoving his face over Will’s shoulder to stare.

“Look Ransom! It’s like in Survivor!” Will resists flinching despite Holster’s too loud voice directly in his ear. 

He has a sneaking suspicion that Nursey’s not the only one that’s never been camping, and when the fire’s caught well enough that he doesn’t have to keep his eyes on it, he glances around and sees quite a few faces staring his stick teepee with rapt attention. Now he just needs confirmation. “Quick show of hands, how many of you have actually been camping before?”

Only Bitty and Holster raise their hands. Most people stare at Bitty. Will stares at Holster. “You’ve been camping and you’re still this excited about building a fire?”

Holster shrugs. “I was like eight. They wouldn’t let us near the lighters.”

“Wait.” Lardo says, pointing at Bitty. “You’ve been camping? You?”

“Did y’all miss the part where I was a camp counselor the last two summers?” He drawls, hands on his hips, eyebrows up.

Lardo nods, accepting this answer. Will rolls his eyes and turns back to the fire, which looks big enough to take some of the larger sticks now. At the sudden leap of flames, there’s a scramble in the corner of vision and Shitty returns with his knapsack. He proceeds to tip it upside down, allowing two bags of marshmallows, a large box of graham crackers, and about eight Hershey’s bars to fall out.

“Bro, you brought s’mores stuff? Sweet!” Ransom exclaims, diving on one of the Hershey’s bars. 

“Which we can eat after dinner.” Bitty says, plucking the bar from Ransom’s hands and gathering the scattered supplies.

“Um… How do you make a s’more?” Every head turns towards Nursey, who, when he notices their interest, adopts his patented ‘chill’ grin. “I’ve heard they’re good but I’ve never had them before.”

There’s a moment of complete silence, broken by Shitty’s whisper. “That’s the saddest fucking thing I’ve ever heard, brah.”

Nursey’s grin gets even more chill. Will feels kind of bad for him. Being at the center of that much attention always makes Will nervous. But most of his mind is wondering what kind of strange life Nursey’s led if he’s never eaten a s’more, and what else he might have missed out on. Holster edges towards Bitty. “Bits, I need the marshmallows back. It’s an emergency.”

Bitty passes his armful of supplies over to Holster without a word. Holster nods to Ransom, who grabs Nursey, whose chill is quickly cracking, and drags Nursey over to Holster and the s’more supplies. Ransom starts, “It is our duty –“

“Our privilege!” Holster butts in, slinging his free arm around Nursey.

“Our privilege,” Ransom continues with a nod, “As your ex-captains, to teach you how to properly roast a marshmallow.”

Holster picks up the lesson without a pause. “This requires a careful application of skill and time to achieve the perfect gooey center and slightly golden outer crust.”

“Do not believe those heathens who tell you just to stick your marshmallow in the fire until it bursts into flames. They are wrong.”

“So very, very, wrong.”

Will shares an amused glance with Jack as the back-and-forth lesson continues and the two start explaining why rotation is of vital importance. The fire’s fine on its own now, and he picks up one of the smaller sticks he didn’t use and starts scraping off the bark with his pocketknife. They’re going to need roasting sticks.

***

After they’ve eaten dinner (meat and potatoes Bitty wrapped in foil and shoved in the fire), roasted an entire bag of marshmallows (Nursey’s face on trying a s’more was blissful – Ransom and Holster’s faces when Lardo had purposefully burned all her marshmallows were hilarious), Shitty insists on telling ghost stories. He starts with the easy ones about the Haus ghosts, while Ransom pouts and insists – unconvincingly – that they don’t exist, but they end the night with Lardo’s Vietnamese tales of wandering spirits, the ones her grandfather told her, subtly creepy and leaving them shifting in their seats as the fire burns down. 

Eventually, Shitty lies down next to the still-glowing wood and declares his intention to sleep right there in the open. Will eyes him. The evening so far has actually been pretty fun, but with the fire dying down it’s getting chilly. Then again, Shitty has spent time in the snow shirtless, so maybe he’s immune to the cold. Will is looking forward to his nice warm sleeping bag, in a tent that will keep out any dew. He stands and stretches. “Ok, who else is in the tent tonight?”

Everyone but Shitty raises their hand. He sits back up immediately. “What? Everyone’s abandoning me? But you’re all missing out on the true outdoor experience!”

“Dude,” Lardo says, standing up and walking towards the tent. “Bugs.”

“Missing out!” Shitty yells after her.

The rest of them stand and head towards the tent as well, Jack patting Shitty sympathetically on the shoulder as he passes. It takes some maneuvering to get everyone inside – it’s a big tent, but they’re (mostly) big men – but after some swearing, wriggling, and Lardo climbing over everyone so she can claim one corner, they get mostly settled. Which is when Will notices that Nursey’s just got a blanket.

“Dude, where’s your sleeping bag?” He asks as he squirms lower in his own bag.

“Um, don’t have one? Figured this blanket would work. It’s pretty warm.” Nursey has managed to roll himself up in it like a burrito, but still… 

Will shakes his head. They’re pretty well packed in, with him against one wall of the tent, Nursey curled up next to him, Ransom and Holster in the middle and Jack and Lardo framing Bitty on the other side. They should generate enough body heat to keep the tent at least warm-ish. He doesn’t have to worry about Derek Nurse.

Ten minutes later Nursey starts shivering. Will contemplates feigning sleep, but then Nursey gives a particularly hard shiver, so instead he just sighs internally and hopes it’s too cold for awkward boners. At least they’re both fully clothed. “Nurse. Derek. You can share my sleeping bag if you want.”

There’s a pause. Will can feel Nursey trying not to shiver. He fails. “Dex, my bro, there is no way.”

Will swallows. “It’ll involve some serious spooning, but it’s possible. I’ve, um, done it before.” There’s an intake of breath from the middle of the tent. “And no, Holster, I’m not telling you with who.”

“Bro, I’m wounded. Also, that – and this – are mad adorbs.” Holster lets out a yelp after that last statement. Will assumes someone poked him. Maybe Ransom. Probably Bitty.

The tent’s quiet again except for the sounds of bodies shifting and Nursey’s very obvious shivers. Will ignores it for another few minutes before he can’t stand it. 

“Ok, I’m done.” He unzips the side of his sleeping bag, grabs Nursey, who squawks at the sudden contact, and yanks him up against his chest. Nursey flails for a moment before his body starts automatically curling into Will’s heat. Will zips them back up. The blanket’s all twisted between them, and Will yanks on it until it smoothes out on top of them, before putting his arm back around Nursey’s chest. “Now hold still and deal.”

“Aww, Rans, look, our d-men are bonding!” Holster says in an overly sweet tone. The two high five. In the pitch black. Will can’t decide if he’s impressed or wishes they’d somehow managed to hit each other in the face.

Will dozes on and off, shifting against Nursey to get comfortable, but cracks an eye open when he hears the squeak of the tent zipper. It looks like Shitty made it – Will squints at his watch – a good hour before he decided to crawl into the tent, waking all of them up. Ransom, Holster, and Jack get the brunt of it, each noise of complaint or pain accompanied by a muttered “sorry”. Nursey mutters a bit but doesn’t fully wake up.

Eventually, there’s a rustle from the opposite side of the tent that must be Lardo. “Shits, over here.”

After some more groans and a squeak from Bitty, Shitty gets settled. He lets out a contented sigh. “It got lonely. And cold.”

Lardo’s sigh is mildly exasperated. “Go to sleep.”

Will has almost drifted off again when an eerie noise filters through the tent fabric. Nursey tenses and tries to sit up, before figuring out he can’t because of Will’s arm over his chest.

“What was that?” Ransom whispers, his hands reaching out into the darkness, one patting Will’s sleeping bag until it finds his shoulder under the fabric and clutches. “It… it… what was that?”

“Coyote.” Will mutters. Nursey grabs at the arm draped over his chest. “’S’ fine.”

Everyone settles back. The howl comes again. Nursey jumps. Will shifts to grab his hand, squeezes. “Sleep. I got you.”

It takes some time, but eventually he does.

***

The next morning, everyone wakes up earlier than normal and stiff. Will’s one of the first to actually get up, disentangling himself from a bleary Nursey. Thankfully, the only one up before Will is Jack, who’s too good of a person to take blackmail pictures of the two of them spooning in a single sleeping bag. Will joins him next to the fire, poking at the ashes to see if there are any coals he coax into flame. It’s chilly and damp, this early, and Will flips his jacket collar up against the back of his neck. Jack’s staring out into the trees, something peaceful in his expression. Will’s always been a bit in awe of him, less so after Hazeapalooza, but he’s also always appreciated that he has no need to fill silences, can sit in a moment and let it be. Will manages to get a small blaze going and sits back, eyes closed, content to bask in the kind of calm he so rarely gets to experience with a house full of siblings or a dorm full of college kids. Bitty comes out after a little while and Jack’s arm automatically lifts to let him snuggle into his side. Bitty yawns and sags further into Jack’s shoulder.

“I wonder, “ He muses, “How well everyone’s going to function without coffee.” 

“You mean you can function without coffee? Oh wait, I forget that the stuff you drink is actually pure sugar. No real coffee needed.”

Bitty gives Jack a sleepy smile. “Chirp chirp chirp Mr. Zimmerman. I know you don’t hate my coffee drinks as much as you want me to think.”

Jack kisses Bitty on the top of the head, lips lingering for a moment. Will feels sort of like he’s intruding, but not in a terrible way. It’s a sign of trust that warms him, that they’re so open in their affections around him, and it’s good to see them both happy.

Holster and Ransom stumble out next and collapse into a pile next to the fire. Nursey emerges not long after, draped in his blanket from last night. He sits next to Will and drops a head on his shoulder. Will tries not to tense. They don’t do this, except on roadies, but right now Nursey is half zombie, and they did sleep together last night, so Will supposes that’s an excuse. Lardo literally crawls halfway out of the tent, squinting at the light like it’s betrayed her, before standing up and making her way over to the fire, Shitty close behind. It’s a good thirty minutes before any more words are spoken, everyone struggling into full wakefulness, but Ransom finally breaks the silence.

“So, what are we supposed to do today?” 

Lardo speaks without lifting her head from Shitty’s lap. “I’m sketching. You do you.”

“We should probably do a supply run back to the trucks, for more water at least.” Dex runs a hand over his face. “I can do it.”

“No, me and Jack have got this, right sweetheart?”

Jack smiles down at Bitty. “Sure, Bits.”

“For anybody else, there’s a nice loop trail across the top of the mountain we could do.” Shitty offers, hand stroking Lardo’s hair. “The views are supposed to be ‘swawesome.”

There’s a round of muttered agreement, followed by Holster asking about breakfast, which Bitty gets up to start making. Will goes to lend a hand, only to be stopped by Nursey’s hand tangled in his jacket and mumbled disagreement. He manages, after a bit of effort, to change his fond grin down at Nursey to a scowl. 

The quiet doesn’t last much longer. Before long, Shitty wanders off to pee and ends up face to face with a very large wolf spider. His shriek is impressively high pitched. Will jumps up, knocking Nursey off his shoulder and onto the ground, but only gets a few steps before Shitty barrels back into the campsite, eyes wide.

“That’s the biggest fucking spider I’ve ever seen! They shouldn’t get that big! Why is it that big?”

“Where is it?” Lardo asks. Shitty points behind him. Lardo grabs her sketchbook and walks in that direction.

“Lardo? What are you doing? That thing’s fucking massive! Lards, it’s practically big enough to eat you!” Shitty yells at her back. Lardo waves him off and keeps going.

***

After breakfast, Jack and Bitty head down the trail while the rest of them (sans Lardo) head up. Will debates staying, just so Lardo has a buddy, but she waves him off with a glare. About a half-mile from their campsite the trees thin until it’s just low vegetation and rock, windswept and cold. And Shitty was right, the view is ‘swawesome. Other mountain peaks surround them, fading off blue-green into the distance, and the sky is clear and cloudless. Ransom keeps muttering about alpine tundra and biological rarity, Holster nodding along, but Will just labels it breathtaking. When, at the top of one climb, they’re faced with the zig-zag spine of a mountain below them stretching out into the distance, Nursey sits down, pulls out a notebook, and starts scribbling. The others look at him uncertainly.

“Go ahead.” Will tells them, shrugging out of his backpack. “We’ll either catch up or meet you back at the camp.”

They nod and keep going. Will stretches, rolling his shoulders to loosen them, and sprawls out next to Nursey, who hasn’t looked up once. Depending on how long Nursey’s writing jag lasts, they may not get to much more of the hike, but Will doesn’t mind. The view right here is spectacular. And while yes, he’s talking about natural beauty, under the clear sky he admits to himself that at least part of the appeal is Nursey, broad shoulders and head bowed in concentration, his whole body tense. It had taken Will nearly a whole semester to admit that what Nursey does with his writing is just as much work as the things Will does with his keyboard or his hands, and leaves him just as worn out at the end of the day. He rummages in his backpack for a protein bar, pulling one out for Nursey as well. He unwraps it, takes a bite, and tips his head back, soaking up the sun and letting the wind run through his hair.

***

That night, they all walk the half-mile up to the clear part of the mountain to look at the stars. It’s a cloudless night, with no lights for several miles, and the sky is dazzling, milky way a shimmering band, the way it can only be in the thin clear air above civilization. There are gasps, and murmurs of appreciation, and Will bumps his shoulder against Nursey only to realize he’s shaking.

“Hey, you all right? Cold?” Will slings an arm around him, pulls him in.

“I-I – I’ve never…” Nursey sounds like he’s about to break down in tears. Will tenses in alarm and tries to get a look at Nursey’s face in the little light there is. He can make out a rough shape if he squints, but nothing beyond that, no hint of expression.

“Hey, hey, I’ve got you.” He rubs a hand up and down Nursey’s arm, a little rough, trying to comfort him or ground him or warm him up, whatever he needs. “What’s wrong?”

“Dex, I –“ Nursey gasps, shudders. “I’ve never seen the stars before. I didn’t – How? How can it – I never looked up, even at Samwell, why didn’t I ever look up?”

And oh, oh. Will gets it. There’s can be a sucker punch effect to a really clear night sky, even for him, who grew up stargazing with his siblings and cousins, and he’s not a poet, not like Nursey, doesn’t really get overwhelmed by beauty that way. Will tightens his arm, coaxes Nursey down until they’re laid out on the path, side by side, his arm still around Nursey’s shoulders. “They don’t look like this at Samwell, either. Too many lights. Look, see that really bright star over there?” He points, his hand just a dark shape against the brightness. “That’s the North Star, part of the Little Dipper, see? And somewhere nearby will be the Big Dipper…”

Will keeps murmuring about constellations, the bits and pieces he remembers from when he was young and his uncle would take the kids night fishing, before it became work. Nursey doesn’t make a sound the entire time, just stares up at the night sky above them and breathes.

When they get back to the tent, Nursey crawls into Will’s sleeping bag and they curl up together without argument.

***

Sunday, everyone wakes up sore. They may mostly be athletes, but for everyone but Jack the season ended over a month ago and however well they’ve kept condition hiking uses different muscles. And they’ve hiked a lot. Lardo takes one look at all of them, exhausted and smelly, and declares they’re cutting the trip a day short.

“But Lardo…”

“No, Shits. I’m tired of sleeping on the ground, tired of protein bars, and really tired of everyone’s BO. I want a shower and a bed.” Lardo glares around the circle, daring anyone else to protest. No one does. In fact, everyone looks a little relieved.

Jack walks over and helps Shitty up. “Come on. We can spend tomorrow drinking beer at the Haus.”

Shitty perks up at that and goes to help Jack repack the cooler. Will gets up to take down the tent. While he’s enjoyed their trip more than he expected, he’s glad to end a day early. This way, he’ll have an extra day to lounge around before he starts on the lobster boat again. Nursey comes over to lend a hand, and the tent at least proves slightly easier to take down than it was to put up.

The hike back is quieter than the hike there, and by the time they trudge wearily over to the cars it’s midafternoon. Even Holster is subdued. Nursey dozes off before they even hit the highway, face slack against the window, and Will turns down the music, resigning himself to a mostly silent drive back to Samwell.

But about halfway back he wakes up, blinking, and stretches as best as he can in the limited space of the truck cab. He yawns, a fist in front of his mouth, and asks where they are.

Will shrugs, keeping his eyes on the road in front of him, rather than the line Nursey’s spine makes when he arches. “We haven’t even hit Concord yet, so we’re still somewhere in New Hampshire.”

“Cool. Any idea what time we’ll get back to the Haus?”

“Another hour and a half-ish?” Will nods towards his phone sitting on the seat between them. “Check my phone if you want an exact time.”

“Thanks.” Nursey reaches over, picks up the phone, and swipes through. Will starts absently humming along to the song on the radio. Nursey puts the phone back down, cracks his neck. Another moment passes.

“Hey Dex?” Will glances over at the uncertain note in Nursey’s voice. “This… this was fun. More than I expected, honestly. And, well, thanks for being patient. With the tent –“

“Fucking tent.” Will mutters. Nursey laughs.

“Tell me you didn’t think about setting that thing on fire.”

Will rolls his eyes. “If Shitty made one more comment about it being unnecessary I might have set him on fire.”

“He was happy to have it that night.” Will glances over to see Nursey’s grin. His own lips quirk in response.

The conversation stops for a few miles, and radio station starts turning to static. Nursey fiddles with it, looking for something new. He lands on some kind of hip-hop station. Will grimaces, but he can deal. They get through one song before it goes to commercials and Nursey reaches out and turns it off. 

“Listen, I got sidetracked earlier, but what I was trying to say was – it was, um, it was a good weekend. And… well, if we can share a sleeping bag we can probably share a room.”

When Will looks over, Nursey’s staring out the window, playing relaxed as hard as he can. Will can’t resist the urge to reach over and poke him. The glower he gets is worth it. “Pretty sure Lardo got a picture of us this morning, FYI. Expect blackmail.”

Nursey makes a dismissive gesture. “Lardo’s already got plenty of blackmail. On all of us.”

“True.” Will glances at Nursey, still a little stiff, and tries to decide if humor or sincerity would be better. In the end, he goes for both. “And Derek? As long as your hair products don’t take up the entire bathroom counter, we’ll be fine. It might even be sort of fun.”

“Really? Fun?” Nursey’s tone is teasing but the undercurrent of tension still lingers.

“Yeah.” Will says, as strong and steady as he can. He lets a moment pass, lets Nursey absorb the truth of what he’s said. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the fake chill settle into real looseness. “I mean, now when you drive me crazy, there will be pillows nearby to smother you with.”

Nursey shoves at his arm, lightly since he’s driving. “Chowder will come save me.”

“Curses. Now all my plans are foiled. The goalie strikes again.” Will says dryly. He reaches out and turns the radio back on, switching it to a different station.

Nursey nods. “Chowder’s good like that. Oh! We should convince Chowder to be a superhero for Halloween this year. Like, the Teal Avenger or something. Wait, no! SharkBoy! Farmer could be LavaGirl! It would be so funny, we could spike his hair and….”

Will listens as Nursey rambles on about possible group Halloween costumes. He steals a look and has to hide a grin at the way Nursey is punctuating every new idea with a wild hand gesture. This was a good trip. He adjusts his grip on the steering wheel and admits, just to himself, that this wasn’t Shitty’s worst idea.


End file.
